PM Lee said that the reason for this is because he hopes to reconcile with them.

However, the siblings have revealed in a statement today PM Lee’s contribution to the bad blood among them.

They said that PM Lee “intimidated” them after Lee Kuan Yew’s final will was read, and that he refused to invite them to Chinese reunion dinner – the traditional get-together of a Chinese family on CNY eve for makan, hence the name “reunion dinner”.

They said:

“Hsien Loong quarrelled with us on 12 April 2015, the day our father’s will was read. He wanted to state before Parliament the next day that our father had changed his mind and that there was no need to demolish the house at 38 Oxley Road. Naturally we could not agree, as that story was untrue. He was also angry that Wei Ling had an unfettered right to live in the house. He shouted at us and intimidated us. It was the crossing of the Rubicon. He has not spoken to us since.

Shortly thereafter, Hsien Loong wrote to tell us that he had hired a lawyer (Lucien Wong) to deal with the situation, and asked who our lawyers were. We were gobsmacked. We were siblings discussing our father’s house. We had to get our own lawyers. Soon, Hsien Loong ceased to communicate with us directly. The first Chinese New Year reunion after our father’s death, our brother invited all relatives except us.”

“Lee Hsien Loong wears two faces. In public, he presents himself as an honourable son, seeking harmony in the family. In private, he uses his official powers and his subordinates to undermine Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes and attack those who speak up.”

Lee Hsien Yang and Dr Lee Wei Ling have embarked on a public crusade to obtain a commitment from the government that 38 Oxley Road will be torn down once Dr Lee is no longer staying there.

They have accused PM Lee of abusing his power and using the government machinery to block the demolition of the house, for the purpose of milking LKY’s legacy and building a “family cult”.

“Of course, we acknowledge that the government has the legal power to gazette the house against Lee Kuan Yew’s wishes. However, Lee Hsien Loong has gone beyond that. He has sought to rewrite history about Lee Kuan Yew’s stance on demolition – to claim, unbelievably, that Lee Kuan Yew wavered in his unwavering wish. Hsien Loong’s ultimate aim is to preserve the house, while pretending to respect the man.”